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When the M1 chip was introduced I was a bit underwhelmed. Apple being so vague about their performance didn't exactly inspire confidence. But as more informati

When the M1 chip was introduced I was a bit underwhelmed. Apple being so vague about their performance didn't exactly inspire confidence. But as more information has come out it seems like the hype has actually increased.

hliyan 6y ago
Definitely this. To me, it's the most revolutionary thing they've done since the iPad.
- kzrdude 6y ago
  I think the ipad is meh, so better than that. iphone?
  - poulsbohemian 6y ago
    I’ve gone back and forth about the iPad, but now that I’m in a non-technical field, it’s on the tipping point of being my daily driver. When I’m with clients and can hold it in my hand to share info it feels like I’m living in the future.
    - e_proxus 6y ago
      Good point. As a technical professional I’ve always been on the fence about the iPad because of its limitations. I love the form factor and specs, but it just isn’t good enough for e.g. programming. If I was mainly writing and doing some simple graphical work I’d ditch my other devices in a heartbeat.
  - skohan 6y ago
    Same. I guess the iPad Pro is interesting for artists, but I have owned a couple of iPads and it turns out I would much rather have a laptop and an e-reader.
  - webmobdev 6y ago
    It's great as a "consumption" device to watch videos and read and play games.
cowmix 6y ago
Yeah, it like someone went two years into the future and brought back this chip. As a Chromebook fan (and I used one as my daily driver), it seems like Apple has out-Chromebooked all Chromebooks with the M1 MBA. Unless AMD or Qualcomm pulls a rabbit out of their collective hats in the next 6 months, the MBA will be my next laptop.
- izacus 6y ago
  You can usually buy 2-3 Chromebooks for the same price point, how are those two even comparable?
  - tsjq 6y ago
    Haha. Excellent point indeed !
  - Aldo_MX 6y ago
    > How are those two even comparable? They're both locked down with fury and will eventually be rendered useless due to no software updates. You can attempt to install Linux to those but... Will you succeed?
  - iamgopal 6y ago
    I have 3 chromebook bricked due to update issues. My 2009 imac is going strong and gut feeling says my 2020 MBA will definitely outlast 2023 chromebooks.
    - jml7c5 6y ago
      Sounds like a good excuse to pull out the ol' SOIC clip. https://wiki.mrchromebox.tech/Unbricking https://wiki.mrchromebox.tech/Unbricking
  - drosan 6y ago
    New Macbook Air outperforms 2019 macbook pro with i7 and 16gb ram easily. Judging not by benchmarks but with just plain work and usage :)
jrib 6y ago
I'm still on the fence. I could use a new laptop but everything I've looked at doesn't live up to what I would hope for in terms of battery life and specs. The M1 seems to fit the bill. But I'm hesitant to buy into something that I can't run linux on.
- skohan 6y ago
  Yes this is a drawback for me as well. I have basically moved completely away from Windows toward Linux for my home media PC, and I have enjoyed it so much I would like to do the same on the laptop. I was seriously considering an XPS 13" before I bought an M1 air, but it just doesn't seem like any other laptops are quite there at the moment. It would be nice if AMD's next low-power line gets more adoption by laptop manufacturers.
- webmobdev 6y ago
  > The M1 seems to fit the bill. But I'm hesitant to buy into something that I can't run linux on. Exactly. Apple is even introducing further restrictions on macOS, to turn it into a closed system like ios totally under Apple's control. (They've already crippled all application firewalls so that they cannot block any apple authorised software from accessing the internet, and they can even bypass VPNs, all in the marketing speak of "security" while the real reason is to better spy on its users).
  - st1x7 6y ago
    > all in the marketing speak of "security" while the real reason is to better spy on its users Not really. Apple's vice is the tendency to lock down their platforms too much and we're seeing this with the new laptops; their track record with regards to privacy is pretty good.
    - webmobdev 6y ago
      > their track record with regards to privacy is pretty good. So was Google's. Till they decided to screw their users. Once bitten, twice shy. If Apple was serious about user privacy, it wouldn't be crippling application firewall on the new macOS to allow Apple apps to bypass them, even if the user is explicitly blocking them. Nor would they be forcing us to create a unique id to track and record our every activity on their device (yes, they treat it as their device by giving you an illusion of ownership). Nor would they be crippling Safari to not allow you to block all coookies or cripple its extension apis that would have allowed better ad blockers and trackers to be developed. Nor would they be forcing us to use App stores, forcing themselves in between u users and developers to gauge us both of money, while also invading our privacy.
skohan 6y ago
Yeah it's actually pretty cool. I got an M1 air, even though I normally don't jump on 1st gen products, partly out of COVID boredom I suppose. I thought I would use it along side my 2017 15" MBP at least until things caught up on the software side, but I have barely touched the pro since I got it. The screen is smaller, and the speakers are not quite as good, but it's so snappy, light and quiet that it more than makes up for it. There are still some rough edges: for serious development a lot of things are not quite there yet: e.g. last time I checked, there's no native release for NodeJS, and home-brew is still hit-or-miss. A lot of things work with Rosetta, but it surely takes more tweaking and trial and error to get things running than normal. But I've been programming mostly in Rust lately, and that works flawlessly on nightly, so I haven't really thought about compatibility since I was kicking the tires the second day I had it. YMMV depending on which tools you use. All in all, I think this is the most I have really had fun using a laptop since I got my first MBA in 2012 or so. It was so light to travel with, and powerful enough for everything I needed, so it pretty quickly replaced my other laptop for pretty much everything.
webmobdev 6y ago
> hype has actually increased. Marketing can do that. And as Apple seems to be betting its future on ARM chips, you can bet that they will "market" the hell out of it.
4778468d 6y ago
As far as I can tell the AMD Ryzen chips are much much faster than M1.

hliyan 6y ago

Definitely this. To me, it's the most revolutionary thing they've done since the iPad.

kzrdude 6y ago
I think the ipad is meh, so better than that. iphone?
- poulsbohemian 6y ago
  I’ve gone back and forth about the iPad, but now that I’m in a non-technical field, it’s on the tipping point of being my daily driver. When I’m with clients and can hold it in my hand to share info it feels like I’m living in the future.
  - e_proxus 6y ago
    Good point. As a technical professional I’ve always been on the fence about the iPad because of its limitations. I love the form factor and specs, but it just isn’t good enough for e.g. programming. If I was mainly writing and doing some simple graphical work I’d ditch my other devices in a heartbeat.
- skohan 6y ago
  Same. I guess the iPad Pro is interesting for artists, but I have owned a couple of iPads and it turns out I would much rather have a laptop and an e-reader.
- webmobdev 6y ago
  It's great as a "consumption" device to watch videos and read and play games.

cowmix 6y ago

Yeah, it like someone went two years into the future and brought back this chip. As a Chromebook fan (and I used one as my daily driver), it seems like Apple has out-Chromebooked all Chromebooks with the M1 MBA. Unless AMD or Qualcomm pulls a rabbit out of their collective hats in the next 6 months, the MBA will be my next laptop.

izacus 6y ago
You can usually buy 2-3 Chromebooks for the same price point, how are those two even comparable?
- tsjq 6y ago
  Haha. Excellent point indeed !
- Aldo_MX 6y ago
  > How are those two even comparable? They're both locked down with fury and will eventually be rendered useless due to no software updates. You can attempt to install Linux to those but... Will you succeed?
- iamgopal 6y ago
  I have 3 chromebook bricked due to update issues. My 2009 imac is going strong and gut feeling says my 2020 MBA will definitely outlast 2023 chromebooks.
  - jml7c5 6y ago
    Sounds like a good excuse to pull out the ol' SOIC clip. https://wiki.mrchromebox.tech/Unbricking https://wiki.mrchromebox.tech/Unbricking
- drosan 6y ago
  New Macbook Air outperforms 2019 macbook pro with i7 and 16gb ram easily. Judging not by benchmarks but with just plain work and usage :)

jrib 6y ago

I'm still on the fence. I could use a new laptop but everything I've looked at doesn't live up to what I would hope for in terms of battery life and specs. The M1 seems to fit the bill. But I'm hesitant to buy into something that I can't run linux on.

skohan 6y ago
Yes this is a drawback for me as well. I have basically moved completely away from Windows toward Linux for my home media PC, and I have enjoyed it so much I would like to do the same on the laptop. I was seriously considering an XPS 13" before I bought an M1 air, but it just doesn't seem like any other laptops are quite there at the moment. It would be nice if AMD's next low-power line gets more adoption by laptop manufacturers.
webmobdev 6y ago
> The M1 seems to fit the bill. But I'm hesitant to buy into something that I can't run linux on. Exactly. Apple is even introducing further restrictions on macOS, to turn it into a closed system like ios totally under Apple's control. (They've already crippled all application firewalls so that they cannot block any apple authorised software from accessing the internet, and they can even bypass VPNs, all in the marketing speak of "security" while the real reason is to better spy on its users).
- st1x7 6y ago
  > all in the marketing speak of "security" while the real reason is to better spy on its users Not really. Apple's vice is the tendency to lock down their platforms too much and we're seeing this with the new laptops; their track record with regards to privacy is pretty good.
  - webmobdev 6y ago
    > their track record with regards to privacy is pretty good. So was Google's. Till they decided to screw their users. Once bitten, twice shy. If Apple was serious about user privacy, it wouldn't be crippling application firewall on the new macOS to allow Apple apps to bypass them, even if the user is explicitly blocking them. Nor would they be forcing us to create a unique id to track and record our every activity on their device (yes, they treat it as their device by giving you an illusion of ownership). Nor would they be crippling Safari to not allow you to block all coookies or cripple its extension apis that would have allowed better ad blockers and trackers to be developed. Nor would they be forcing us to use App stores, forcing themselves in between u users and developers to gauge us both of money, while also invading our privacy.

skohan 6y ago

Yeah it's actually pretty cool. I got an M1 air, even though I normally don't jump on 1st gen products, partly out of COVID boredom I suppose. I thought I would use it along side my 2017 15" MBP at least until things caught up on the software side, but I have barely touched the pro since I got it. The screen is smaller, and the speakers are not quite as good, but it's so snappy, light and quiet that it more than makes up for it. There are still some rough edges: for serious development a lot of things are not quite there yet: e.g. last time I checked, there's no native release for NodeJS, and home-brew is still hit-or-miss. A lot of things work with Rosetta, but it surely takes more tweaking and trial and error to get things running than normal. But I've been programming mostly in Rust lately, and that works flawlessly on nightly, so I haven't really thought about compatibility since I was kicking the tires the second day I had it. YMMV depending on which tools you use. All in all, I think this is the most I have really had fun using a laptop since I got my first MBA in 2012 or so. It was so light to travel with, and powerful enough for everything I needed, so it pretty quickly replaced my other laptop for pretty much everything.

webmobdev 6y ago

> hype has actually increased. Marketing can do that. And as Apple seems to be betting its future on ARM chips, you can bet that they will "market" the hell out of it.

4778468d 6y ago

As far as I can tell the AMD Ryzen chips are much much faster than M1.